Storage Equipment Research Articles

An advanced Ni–Graphite molten salt battery with 95 °C operating temperature for energy storage application

Based on the high safety and low costs, molten salt batteries (Na-S battery, liquid metal battery, ZEBRA battery, etc.) have received more and more attention as large-scale electrical storage technology. However, the high operating temperature of molten salt batteries is still one of the roadblocks that impeded their practical application. Here we present the novel Ni-graphite molten salt battery based on outstanding electrochemical reversibility of the Ni/NiCl2 redox and intercalation/de-intercalation chemistry of chloroaluminate anions in graphite. By using the low-cost, quaternary inorganic molten salt AlCl3/KCl/NaCl/LiCl as electrolyte, the as-designed Ni-graphite battery possesses low operating temperature of 95 °C, and average voltage about 1.7 V. The Ni-graphite battery delivers stable specific capacity of 174 mAh/g at 500 mA/g after 120 cycles, with the capacity retention rate of 98%. In addition, the Ni-graphite battery also shows low material costs about 113.6 $/kWh and high electrode energy density of 289 Wh/kg. This work develops an advanced molten salt battery with low operating temperature and high energy density, as well as provides an alternative means of developing future large-scale power storage equipment based on molten salt batteries.

Boric acid thermal etching graphite felt as a high-performance electrode for iron-chromium redox flow battery

Iron-chromium redox flow battery (ICRFB) is a secondary battery capable of deep charge and discharge. It is a novel electrochemistric equipment for energy storage. ICRFB has around wide concern as it possesses advanced characteristics such as high energy, long cycle life, and environmental friendly. Graphite felt is a common electrode material for ICRFB because of its high temperature resistance, corrosion resistance, infinite specific surface area, and admirable electroconductibility. However, poor hydrophilicity and electrochemical activity lead to the graphite felt to be modified to be better applied in ICRFB. To improve the electrochemical activity of graphite felt, the PAN-based graphite felt was activated by boric acid thermal etching, and tested with SEM analysis, electrochemical analysis, and charge-discharge test. The results showed that the electrochemical activity and reversibility of boric acid thermal etching graphite felt impregnated with 25% boric acid solution were significantly improved after thermal treatment at 500 °C for 5 h. The Energy Efficiency of boric acid thermal etching graphite felt impregnated with 25% boric acid solution in ICRFB could reach more than 85%, which was about 9.5% higher than that of ICRFB with untreated graphite felt (1#) as electrode.

Mobile Equipment for Transportation and Storage of Water Reserves

In conditions of reduced freshwater reserves, the problem of its extraction of transportation and storage requires scientific justification of the relevant technical and technological solutions and the development of technical means. The article offers a mobile drinking water module. The design of the module provides for its placement in a thermally insulated container including a system of heating, power supply, distribution, filling and disinfection of water. For the development of the drinking water module, modern technical solutions are used to reduce the heat loss of the tank due to the use of a composite material and a cable of electric heater system. Reduction of microorganism propagation activity in water is provided by ultraviolet treatment and disinfection through ultraviolet gate. The design of the container is designed taking into account the possibility of its transportation in all modes of transport as a separate cargo unit. With the device of belts for loading and unloading. For loading into cars without the use of crane equipment, extendable outriggers are installed in the container, which can be used to install the container on water distribution sites. Mobility of the drinking module is ensured by the inclusion of a diesel generator unit in its composition. The tank of the module is made of stainless steel ensuring the safety of water without the formation of harmful impurities in it, and the coating of the tank with a composite material creates the effect of a thermos. The function of filling and distributing water from the tank is implemented using a distribution column with a vortex pump of a system of shut-off valves and hoses for supplying water. Experimental studies of mobile module operation have been performed. It was established that in order to maintain the water temperature in the tank at 10 ° C at an ambient temperature of minus 30 ° C, the heating system should not be switched on. The innovative design of the heat insulated layer reduces the thermal conductivity of similar water storage tanks made of traditional materials by 4 times. The proposed design of the mobile drinking module provides the possibility of creating clean water reserves for catering and household supplies.

Service-oriented industrial internet of things gateway for cloud manufacturing

• Proposed a generic system architecture of IIoT-supported cloud manufacturing as a strategic guideline for integrating IIoT technologies in a cloud manufacturing environment. • Proposed a service-oriented PnP IIoT gateway for efficient data acquisition, communication, query, analysis, and visualisation of manufacturing equipment. • Developed two generic service-oriented data schemas for machine tools and 3D printers that allow efficient data management and query for decision-making tasks in a cloud manufacturing platform. • Developed two practical PnP IIoT gateways for a 3D printer and a CNC machine tool that validate the feasibility of the proposed approach. Cloud manufacturing represents a service-oriented manufacturing paradigm that allows ubiquitous and on-demand access to various customisable manufacturing services in the cloud. While a vast amount of research in cloud manufacturing has focused on high-level decision-making tasks, such as service composition and scheduling, the link between field-level manufacturing data and the cloud manufacturing platform has not been well established. Efficient data acquisition, communication, storage, query, and analysis of field-level manufacturing equipment remain a significant challenge that hinders the development of cloud manufacturing systems. Therefore, this paper investigates the implementation of the emerging Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) technologies in a cloud manufacturing system to address this challenge. We propose a service-oriented plug-and-play (PnP) IIoT gateway solution based on a generic system architecture of IIoT-supported cloud manufacturing system. Service-oriented data schemas for manufacturing equipment are developed to capture just-enough information about field-level manufacturing equipment and allow efficient data storage and query in a cloud time-series database (TSDB). We tested the feasibility and advantages of the proposed approach via the practical implementation of the IIoT gateways on a 3D printer and a machine tool. Our research suggests that purposely developed service-oriented data schemas that capture the essential information for high-level cloud manufacturing decision-making via PnP IIoT technologies are a good solution for connecting field-level manufacturing equipment to a cloud manufacturing platform.

Effect of the position and the area of the vent on the hydrogen dispersion in a naturally ventilated cubiod space with one vent on the side wall

The design of ventilation system has implications for the safety of life and property, and the development of regulations and standards in the space with the hydrogen storage equipment. The impact of both the position and the area of a single vent on the dispersion of hydrogen in a cuboid space (with dimensions L x W x H = 2.90 × 0.74 × 1.22 m) is investigated with Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) in this study. Nine positions of the vent were compared for the leakage taking place at the floor to understand the gas dispersion. It was shown a cloud of 1% mole fraction has been formed near the ceiling of the space in less than 40 s for different positions of the vent, which can activate hydrogen sensors. The models show that the hydrogen is removed more effectively when the vent is closer to the leakage position in the horizontal direction. The study demonstrates that the vent height of 1.00 m is safer for the particular scenario considered. The area of the vent has little effect on the hydrogen concentration for all vent positions when the area of the vent is less than 0.045 m 2 and the height of the vent is less than 0.61 m. • The coupling effects of the height and the area of the vent on hydrogen diffusion were analyzed. • The average concentration of the local area of the cross-section for different vent positions was compared. • The flow for various vent positions in the horizontal direction was investigated.

CNT@MnO2 composite ink toward a flexible 3D printed micro‐zinc‐ion battery

AbstractFlexible energy storage devices have played a significant role in multiscenario applications, while flexible zinc‐ion batteries (ZIBs), as an essential branch, have developed rapidly in recent years. Three‐dimensional (3D) printing is an extremely advanced technology to design and modify the structure of batteries and provides unlimited possibilities for the diversified development of energy storage equipment. Herein, by utilizing 3D printing technology, carbon nanotube (CNT) is coated by MnO2 to form a flexible CNT@MnO2 ink as a cathode for flexible aqueous micro‐ZIBs for the first time and zinc powder ink is used as an anode due to its high flexibility and bendability. The Zn//CNT@MnO2 flexible battery shows a stable capacity of 63 μAh cm−2 at 0.4 mA cm−2. When the battery is bent in different states, the maximum capacity loss compared with the initial value is only 2.72%, indicating its stability. This study shows the potential of 3D printing technology in the development of flexible manganese‐based ZIBs.

Enhanced Zn2+ transfer dynamics via a 3D bird nest-like VO2/MXene heterojunction for ultrahigh-rate aqueous zinc-ion batteries

With the increasing demand of the large-scale storage equipment, more scholars are involved in the research of aqueous zinc-ion batteries (AZIBs) owing to their cost-effectiveness, good safety and environment-friendly. Herein, we demonstrate a three-dimensional (3D) bird nest-like VO 2 /MXene heterojunction using a facile ultrasonication method combined with freeze-drying. The particular heterostructure of cathode material not only effectively suppresses the volume changes of electrodes, but also prominently improves the kinetics of active materials upon cycling, thus results in remarkably enhanced electrochemical performance. It delivers a specific capacity of 445 mAh g −1 at 0.1 A g −1 and exhibits unexceptionable high-rate capacities of 244.5 and 225.0 mAh g −1 at 20.0 (over 2600 cycles) and 30.0 (over 4000 cycles) A g −1 , respectively. Moreover, a high specific capacity of 247.2 mAh g −1 is achieved at 5.0 A g −1 at −20 °C, and almost no capacity loss is observed even after 2500 cycles. Moreover, the further research on ex-situ XPS and XRD measurements are carried out for VO 2 /MXene material in hope of better understanding its Zn 2+ storage mechanism. The proposed interfacial engineering approach combining metal oxides and MXene in this work opens up a novel way for cathode in AZIBs. • VO 2 /MXene was obtained by ultrasonication combined with freeze drying. • VO 2 /MXene exhibited ultrahigh-rate and excellent low-temperature performance. • Interface engineering boosted the electrochemical kinetics of VO 2 /MXene.

Research on multi-objective optimal scheduling of virtual power plant based on self-supplied coal-fired power plants

With the development of renewable energy, improving the absorption capacity of power grid has become a difficult problem. It is very important to establish virtual power plants based on self-supplied coal-fired power plant to coordinate renewable energy consumption, especially in Xinjiang Province, China. This paper studied the optimal scheduling of a virtual power plant including wind turbines, photovoltaic units, and energy storage equipment based on the self-supplied power plant. First, a mathematical model of the power and power generation cost of each unit inside the virtual power plant was established, and the demand response mechanism was introduced. Secondly, a multi-objective optimization model is established by considering the maximization of net income of virtual power plants, the minimization of system coal consumption and the maximization of user interruption load benefits, and the use of analytic hierarchy process to determine the weights of three objective functions, of which user interruption load benefits are used to reflect the enthusiasm of users to interrupt the load. Finally, the particle swarm algorithm is used to solve the model. The optimization results show that when the coal price rises, the net income of the system decreases, and even a loss occurs, however, the change in coal price has little effect on the Interrupted load of user. In addition, multi-objective optimization can improve the enthusiasm of users while ensuring the net income of the system, it proves that the model has a good optimization effect.

Enhanced multiple anchoring and catalytic conversion of polysulfides by SnO2-decorated MoS2 hollow microspheres for high-performance lithium-sulfur batteries

Lithium-Sulfur (Li-S) batteries are very competitive in energy storage equipment due to their high theoretical capacity and low cost of raw materials. However, the serious polysulfide "shuttle effect", volume expansion effect and slow conversion reaction kinetics of Li−S batteries during the charge/discharge cycle process still need to be resolved urgently. Herein, we prepared a novel sulfur host of SnO2-decorated MoS2 hollow microspheres (SnO2-MoS2 HMSs). The unique hollow structure provides enough space to accommodate a large amount of sulfur and effectively adapts to its large volume expansion during charge and discharge process. On the other hand, the SnO2 nanoparticles that attached to the surface of the MoS2 nanosheets will accelerate the catalysis of MoS2 and enhance the bonding strength with the polysulfide intermediates through the S−Sn−O chemical bond, which further inhibits the shuttle effect. The newly synthesized SnO2-MoS2 HMSs cathode has achieved excellent electrochemical performance. The initial discharge specific capacity of 1326.4 mAh g−1 was obtained at 0.2 C, and after 100 cycles, the specific capacity of the SnO2-MoS2 HMSs/S cathode only decreased slightly to 1183.8 mAh g−1, its capacity retention rate reaching as high as 89.2%. We expect the newly synthesized hollow structured MoS2 with SnO2 decoration provides a new strategy for the construction of Li-S battery cathode materials.

Robust Optimal Scheduling of EHG-IES Based on Uncertainty of Wind Power and PV Output

The Electricity-Heat-Gas Integrated Energy System (EHG-IES) is important for achieving carbon neutrality. However, the uncertainty of wind power and photovoltaic (PV) output has a large impact on EHG-IES scheduling optimization. In order to solve this problem, a robust scheduling optimization method considering the uncertainty of wind power and PV output and the coupling relationship of each device in EHG-IES is proposed. In the proposed optimization method, the uncertainty of wind power and PV output is described by an additive maximum uncertainty set. Then, the day-ahead scheduling optimization model is proposed based on the coupling relationship of each equipment and electric vehicle (EV) traveling demand. Also, the proposed model is introduced in detail. The simulation is verified by a park calculation example. The economy and accuracy of the proposed method in this paper are verified by comparing the robust optimization results under different uncertainties with stochastic optimization. For robust parameters of 20% and 10%, the economic cost is 1.016% and 1.041% lower than that of the stochastic optimization. Meanwhile, the proposed method can improve the economy of the EHG-IES and realize the economic and safe operation of the EHG-IES under the consideration of EVs and heating storage equipment.

Aluminum-ion intercalation and reduced graphene oxide wrapping enable the electrochemical properties of hydrated V2O5 for Zn-ion storage

Aqueous zinc-ion batteries (AZIBs) have the characteristics of high theoretical specific capacity, wide source and high safety, and become a very promising energy storage equipment. Due to the larger solvation radius and stronger electrostatic interaction of divalent zinc ions, the cathode materials need to have larger space and more stable structure. The ions or molecules are pre-inserted between the vanadium oxide layers as pillars, which can provide large layer spacing and facilitate the insertion/extraction process and diffusion of zinc ions, but their performance is limited due to their low conductivity and solubility. By combining it with carbon materials with high conductivity and strong chemical stability, it can make up for these shortcomings and greatly improve the electrochemical performance. Herein, aluminum-ion intercalated hydrated V2O5 (AlxV2O5·nH2O, abbreviated as AlVOH)/reduced graphene oxide (AlVOH/rGO) composite was synthesized by a one-step hydrothermal method to improve the Zn ion storage properties of hydrated V2O5 (VOH). The composite material has a large layer spacing of 13.3 Å, and the composite of rGO not only enhances its electrical conductivity, but also protects the electrode active material to a certain extent. As expected, AlVOH/rGO has good cycle stability and rate performance, which shows a specific capacity of 405 mA h·g−1 at 0.1 A·g−1 and has no significant energy attenuation after 100 cycles.

Multi‐objective optimal configuration of stand‐alone microgrids based on Benders decomposition considering power supply reliability

Power supply reliability (PSR) is a critical factor in the optimal configuration of stand-alone microgrids. Considering the impact of the failure outage of power generation and energy storage equipment, as well as the uncertainty of renewable energy on PSR, a multi-objective bi-level mixed-integer optimisation model is proposed. Based on Benders decomposition, the model is decoupled into a master problem (MP) of the equipment optimal configuration considering economy and environmental conservation and a sub-problem (SP) of the PSR check. Considering the load importance hierarchy, two types of slack variables are introduced into the SP to ensure both the reliable power supply of important loads and the PSR of the system. Through interactive iteration of the MP and SP, the complexity of the optimisation model is considerably reduced, improving the solution efficiency while ensuring the rationality of the optimal configuration scheme. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed model is verified by a typical stand-alone wind–photovoltaic–diesel–battery microgrid system and analysed in terms of the impact of reliability requirement and energy storage on the configuration scheme and algorithm convergence.

The Application of Hospital Safety Index for Analyzing Primary Healthcare Center (PHC) Disaster and Emergency Preparedness

The World Health Organization (WHO) defines the primary healthcare center (PHC) as a whole-of-society approach to health that aims at ensuring the highest possible level of health and well-being and their equitable distribution by focusing on people’s needs as early as possible along the continuum from health promotion and disease prevention to treatment, rehabilitation, and palliative care, and as close as feasibly possible to people’s everyday environment. PHCs are expected to remain operational when disasters occur. This study aimed to assess the PHC disaster preparedness level in Indonesia using The Hospital Safety Index (HSI) from WHO/PAHO. Eleven PHCs located in four provinces in Indonesia, i.e., Jakarta, Yogyakarta, North Sumatera, and West Java, were selected. Data were collected through interviews, focus-group discussions (FGDs), observations, and document reviews. The parameters assessed were all types of hazards, structural or construction safety, nonstructural safety, and functional attributes. The results show that the overall score of HSI for PHCs in Jakarta (0.674) and North Sumatera (0.752) fell into the “A” category, meaning that these PHCs would likely remain operational in the case of disasters. Meanwhile, the overall HSI scores for PHCs in West Java (0.601) and Yogyakarta (0.602) were between 0.36 and 0.65, or in “B” category, meaning that these PHCs would be able to recover during disasters but several services would be exposed to danger. The results suggested that there are several gaps that need urgent interventions to be applied for the structural safety of buildings, water supply systems, fuel storage, disaster committee organization, furniture and fittings, offices and storage equipment, as well as increasing the capacity of workers through a structured and systematic training framework for disaster readiness. The results from this study can be used for prioritizing budgets and resource allocation, cost planning, providing specific solutions for local and national government, and efforts to achieve disaster risk reduction.

Planning Method and Principles of the Cloud Energy Storage Applied in the Power Grid Based on Charging and Discharging Load Model for Distributed Energy Storage Devices

The cloud energy storage system (CES) is a shared distributed energy storage resource. The random disordered charging and discharging of large-scale distributed energy storage equipment has a great impact on the power grid. This paper solves two problems. On one hand, to present detailed plans for designing an orderly controlled CES system in a realistic power system. On the other hand, Monte Carlo simulation (MCS) is used for analyzing the load curves of five types of distributed energy storage systems to manage and operate the CES system. A method of its planning and the principles of CES for applied in a power grid, are presented by analyzing the impact based on five load curves including the electric vehicle (EV), the ice storage system, the demand response, the heat storage system, and the decentralized electrochemical energy storage system. The MCS simulates the random charging and discharging of the system over a five-year planned scaling of distributed energy storage from 2021 through 2025. The influence of distributed energy storage systems on power grid capacity, load characteristics, and safety margins is researched to summarize the applicable fields of CES in supporting large power grids. Finally, important conclusions are summarized and other research possibilities in this field are presented. This paper represents a significant reference for planners.

A Guide to Establishing a Pediatric Neurogastroenterology and Motility Program.

The purpose of this document is to provide guidance for establishing a pediatric neurogastroenterology and motility (PNGM) program, including considerations for personnel, equipment, and physical space requirements, and business planning, from members of the neurogastroenterology and motility (NGM) Committee of the North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition (NASPGHAN) who have developed PNGM programs at various institutions. A business plan defining the needs for required personnel, dedicated physical space, procedures, clinical care, and equipment storage is a prerequisite. Thoughtful logistical planning should address provider schedules, clinical visits, procedure coordination, and prior authorization processes. A business-plan outlining equipment purchase with projected costs, revenue generation, and goals for future growth is desirable for obtaining institutional support, which is imperative to building a successful PNGM program.

Overseas Hoisting and Handling Equipment Innovations

Digitalization and automation determine the main trends in the development of logistics at the present stage. The same trends set the way for the improvement of handling equipment, as the basis for the development of logistics and mainly internal logistics. An important place in the implementation is occupied by fl oor vehicles, especially transport systems with fl oor carts operating without drivers. The innovative development of these systems is considered. The relevance of automating the determination of the dimensions and mass of cargo is noted, data are given on the systems in which these functions are implemented. The use of robots, including collaborative ones, in lifts, cranes and other types of equipment is described. Examples of the use of new technical means for IT-technologies are shown.Innovations in handling and storage equipment abroad are determined by the requirements of digitalization and automation. This also provides for the introduction of some IT-technologies where automation is ineff ective due to the small amount of work or for reasons of economic effi ciency.Automatic cranes, various types of lifts, automatic sorting systems, automatic systems and means for measuring the mass and size of goods, and other equipment have been widely used.All these innovations create the conditions for dynamic, digitized, intelligent warehouse logistics and modern internal transport in industrial plants and warehouses.Foreign innovative experience should be used in our country in the implementation of promising projects and programs in the fi eld of transport and logistics.

High Energy Density in Combination with High Cycling Stability in Hybrid Supercapacitors.

Hybrid supercapacitors are considered the next-generation energy storage equipment due to their superior performance. In hybrid supercapacitors, battery electrodes need to have large absolute capacities while displaying high cycling stability. However, enhancing areal capacity via decreasing the size of electrode materials results in reductions in cycling stability. To balance the capacity-stability trade-off, rationally designed proper electrode structures are in urgent need and still of great challenge. Here we report a high-capacity and high cycling stability electrode material by developing a nickel phosphate lamination structure with ultrathin nanosheets as building blocks. The nickel phosphate lamination electrode material exhibits a large specific capacity of 473.9 C g-1 (131.6 mAh g-1, 1053 F g-1) at 2.0 A g-1 and only about 21% capacity loss at 15 A g-1 (375 C g-1, 104.2 mAh g-1, 833.3 F g-1) in 6.0 M KOH. Furthermore, hybrid supercapacitors are constructed with nickel phosphate lamination and activated carbon (AC), possessing high energy density (42.1 Wh kg-1 at 160 W kg-1) as well as long cycle life (almost 100% capacity retention after 1000 cycles and 94% retention after 8000 cycles). The electrochemical performance of the nickel phosphate lamination structure not only is commensurate with the nanostructure or ultrathin materials carefully designed in supercapacitors but also has a longer cycling lifespan than them. The encouraging results show the great potential of this material for energy storage device applications.

Sustainable synthesis of apricot shell-derived hierarchical porous carbon for supercapacitors: A novel mild one-step synthesis process

Development for sustainability and renewable energy storage equipment with energy-efficient and environmentally-friendly characteristics being the overwhelming imperative problem that needs to be addressed. Here, apricot shells were used to prepare apricot shell-derived porous carbons (APCs) with hierarchical structures by employing a mild one-step method, viz. a CaCO3/K2C2O4 salt activator at 700 ℃. Pore structures for APCs can be regulated by the weight ratio of CaCO3 to K2C2O4. Significantly, the mild one-step preparation of APCs bypasses high temperatures (> 700 ℃), strong acids or alkalis, and supercritical drying or freeze-drying. The resultant optimal porous carbon APC-1 had a large specific surface area of 2348.96 m2/g and a low ratio (36.15%) of micropore volume (Vmicro) to total pore volume (Vtotal). Besides, APC-1 achieved a high specific capacitance of 300.41 F/g at 1 A/g in the three-electrode configuration and good capacitance retention of 85.88% at 10 A/g. Particularly, APC-1 displayed a high energy density of 29.54 Wh kg−1 upon 2800.83 W kg−1 in the two-electrode cell and excellent cycling stability of 91.56% capacitance retention after 10,000 cycles at 10 A/g. The present investigation gives a mild one-step approach to obtain biomass-derived porous carbons for high-performance supercapacitors.

Developing a Circular Economy for the Data Centre Industry – how the CEDaCI project contributes to sustainable decision making

Data centres (DCs) house data processing and storage equipment. The data centre industry (DCI) is evolving rapidly, as society is becoming more dependent on digital technologies. Currently, there are 7.2 million DCs globally and provision is predicted to grow fivefold by 2030. The sector already utilises millions of tonnes of resources, including Critical Raw Materials, and the demand will only increase. DCI is based on a linear economy; recycling and materials reclamation infrastructure are also inadequate. At the end-of-life, many materials are either lost to landfill, incinerated, or unaccounted for. Furthermore, many virgin materials are located in geopolitically sensitive locations, which poses a threat to the supply chain that the sector relies on. The CEDaCI project aims to increase overall sectoral sustainability by addressing the various technical, cultural, and behavioural barriers across the DCI, such as fragmentation and sole focus on the energy efficiency. This paper describes the whole-systems approach and CEDaCI project outputs, including bespoke Eco-design guidelines, strategies, and digital tools to extend product life and recycling, and enable better decision-making to increase circularity in the DCI, prepare and support implementation of the EU Circular Economy Action Plan and ensure a secure, sustainable resource supply chain.

The Circular Data Centre Compass – modelling and assessing data centre sustainability

Data centres (DC) house electrical and electronic data processing and storage equipment. The data centre industry has grown from zero in the late 1980s into a global service provider with over 7 million sites in 2021. This rapid sectoral growth presents many challenges to environmental, social, and economic sustainability including the generation of large quantities of e-waste, (which is exacerbated by an under-developed recycling infrastructure, and a limited market for second life products) and potential threat to material supply chains, specifically Critical Raw Materials. There is an urgent need to improve sectoral sustainability, which includes development of a Circular Economy. The CEDaCI (a Circular Economy for the Data Centre Industry) project was launched in 2018 to initiate this by demonstrating its viability though business case studies, physical prototypes and digital tools, a key example being the Circular Data Centre Compass (CDCC) – a unique online tool that includes original primary source data. This tool allows users to compare and assess the overall life cycle sustainability of different servers, the criticality of embodied materials and the circularity of current and proposed designs. Therefore, the CDCC improves overall life cycle management of data centres, which increases supply chain security and reduces risk of DC service interruption.